NEW DELHI—As U.S. President Donald Trump and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met last week at the White House, their focus was clear.
While ensuring their nations’ best interests, the leaders of the world’s two largest democracies reciprocated each other’s concerns. The result was a step forward in bilateral ties at a time of growing geopolitical worries that prominently include China, analysts say.
A joint statement released Feb. 13 said the meeting “reaffirmed the strength of the India–U.S. Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, anchored in mutual trust, shared interests, goodwill and robust engagement of their citizens.”
“Modi’s meeting with Trump was a landmark in the growing partnership between the two countries. Pragmatism and bonhomie resulted in ’the wonderful deals.' The difficult issues were resolved for mutual benefit,” S.D. Pradhan, former Indian national security adviser, told The Epoch Times.
Aparna Pande, director of the Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, said that although Trump had announced reciprocal tariffs a few hours before he met Modi, things changed after the two leaders met.
“[Trump] also reiterated that India had high tariffs, a high trade deficit, and restrictive market access. However, during his press conference the President noted that India had agreed to lower these tariffs, improve access and the two sides were working on a potential trade deal,” Pande told The Epoch Times.
Modi told reporters that the two nations would aim to more than double their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, something they called “mission 500” in their joint statement.
Trump said that his administration is going to make “wonderful trade deals” for India.
He was encouraged to make the statement because Modi assuaged his concerns about trade imbalance and tariffs, Pande said.
Since fiscal year 2025-26, Pradhan said, India has “shown the inclination to reduce duties.”
“Besides costly U.S. motorcycles and batteries, India lowered taxes on agricultural products. This took care of the fair-trade policy of Trump,” he said.
India will reciprocate the confidence-building gesture of the United States and has agreed to buy oil and gas from the United States to address Trump’s concerns, he said. “The details are likely to work out in the coming months.”
‘MIGA’ and ‘MAGA’
The assertive yet reciprocal atmosphere of the meeting was highlighted when Modi dubbed the United States–India friendship a “mega partnership.”“Borrowing an expression from America, our vision for a developed India is to ‘Make India Great Again,’ or ‘MIGA,’” Modi said at a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House Thursday.
“When America and India work together, that is, when MAGA—when it’s MAGA plus MIGA—it becomes mega, a mega partnership for prosperity. And it is this mega spirit that gives new scale and scope to our objectives,” the Indian prime minister said.
Pradhan said the two nations have decided to elevate their ties based on a “global comprehensive strategic partnership” for economic prosperity. Modi aptly stated that the meeting was trying to build on the successes of Trump’s first tenure, he said.
Following the discussions, Trump announced that India would purchase more U.S. oil and gas and more military hardware, including F-35 fighter jets.
The joint statement highlighted a “deepening convergence” in defense, expanding trade and investment, energy security, technology and innovation, multilateral cooperation, and people-to-people cooperation.
Experts said the defense deals and the purchase of more U.S. oil and gas send a geopolitical message to China and Russia, respectively.
Pradhan said Trump’s tariff decisions vis-a-vis China and his decision to hold talks with Russia will benefit India.
“China remained on the center stage,” he said.
The United States is imposing tariffs to ensure that China complies with international norms, he added. At the same time, Trump’s planned meeting with Russia and China to reduce spending on arms and nuclear forces “is in India’s interest.”
Terrorism and Affairs of Indo-Pacific
One result of the meeting that was hailed by Indian media was Trump’s decision to extradite Tahawwur Rana, one of the accused conspirators behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Rana is currently lodged in a metropolitan detention center in Los Angeles.“I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of ... one of the very evil people of the world,” Trump said of the extradition.
Rana is a former Pakistani veteran and was an associate of Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the key conspirators of the attacks, in which India lost 175 people.
Pradhan said the extradition, in which the United States addressed India’s national security concerns, will help bolster confidence between the two countries.
“India’s concern over growing terrorism was well received by Trump’s team and they assured full cooperation. Trump even said that the U.S. was handing over the most dreaded terrorist,” said Pradhan.
Both analysts said a positive reference to cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and Trump’s addressing India’s concerns regarding Bangladesh also set the stage for greater geo-political cooperation.
“The positive reference to Quad, to IMEC [India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor], continued tech cooperation in the areas of AI and critical technology were clear signals to China. The President stated that Quad was a security partnership to ensure peace and tranquility in the Indo-Pacific,” Pande said.
Pradhan said the meeting also paved the way for further nuclear cooperation between India and the United States.
This time, Modi and Trump agreed to cooperate to build American-designed nuclear reactors in India under the 2007 framework, to help India meet its clean energy needs.
“On nuclear energy, there were assurances given, while praising India’s legal reforms to allow the U.S. to cooperate in the nuclear energy sector,” said Pradhan.
Bangladesh and Khalistan
Before the meeting with Modi, Trump was asked by a reporter about the involvement of the “deep state” in Bangladesh. The country last year saw the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s 16-year regime. The student-led “monsoon revolution” led to an interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus.The ouster, after days of violence, was further followed by widespread atrocities against minorities including Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians. Trump condemned the violence in October, saying it would have “never happened on my watch.”
Hasina is currently staying in India. The political turmoil created problems between New Delhi and Bangladesh’s new administration. Problems on the long and porous India-Bangladesh border also increased.
“There was no role for our deep state. This is something that the prime minister has been working on for a long time. ... I will leave Bangladesh to the prime minister,” Trump said.
Pradhan said Trump’s response gave a hint that the United States would not be involved in anti-India activities.
At the joint press conference later on Feb. 13, Trump was asked about the Khalistan movement, which seeks a separate state for Sikhs in northern India’s Punjab region. The group has many activists in the United States—some of whom were holding anti-Modi slogans outside the White House before the visit, a news item more widely reported in Pakistani media than in the Indian press.
The movement includes several groups with violent histories, listed as terrorist organizations by India. Indian investigative agencies accuse Khalistani elements of masterminding attacks on several Indian consulates in the past in the UK, Canada, and the United States. Meanwhile, the United States and Canada have accused India of targeting Khalistani activists on U.S. soil.
Trump didn’t give a direct reply to the question but alluded to a less-than-ideal relationship between India and the Biden administration and said that the two countries will work together on crime.
The two leaders agreed to “strengthen law enforcement cooperation to take decisive action against organized crime syndicates, including narco-terrorists, human and arms traffickers as well as other elements who threaten public and diplomatic safety and security, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both nations,” the joint statement said.
